‘N80.2bn fraud’: Court refuses to vacate arrest warrant against Yahaya Bello

A federal high court in Abuja has refused to vacate a warrant of arrest issued against Yahaya Bello, former Kogi state governor.

Emeka Nwite, presiding judge, criticised Bello for filing applications despite his refusal to show up in court.

He described the actions of the former governor as an attempt to truncate the case preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.

The commission had also obtained a warrant of arrest against the former governor on April 17.

At the scheduled arraignment on April 18, Bello was absent.

Abdulwahab Mohammed, counsel to Bello, had told the judge that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant the warrant of arrest in the first instance.

He referenced the February 9 interim injunction issued by the Kogi high court, which restrained the commission from arresting Bello.

At another court session, Adeola Adedipe, a member of Bello’s legal team, said his client would have appeared in court but was worried about being taken into custody.

Adedipe argued that the charge had not been served on his client as required by law, at the time the warrant of arrest was made.

He asked the court to revoke the warrant of arrest issued on April 17 against the former governor.